[Note: This book was provided free of charge by Bethany House Publishing. All thoughts and opinions are my own.]

I am of two minds regarding this book. On the one hand, there were many aspects of this book that were delightful, especially the winsome nature of its heroine, Rosalyn Bernay, and the way that she finds a place for herself within the world of Gilbert & Sullivan after having been raised as an orphan [1] in a Christian orphanage. That said, there were many parts of this book that were absolutely infuriating, including the way that the author glosses over the problem of abortion, presents Gilbert & Sullivan as Christians and not as fairly hypocritical people [2], and has an infuriating and entirely unnecessary love triangle where the author goes to considerable lengths to make the heroine mousy enough to accept the attention of two very different men and to unnecessarily and excessively complicate what would already be a difficult courtship between her and the appealing Nate Moran. Someone needs to tell writers of contemporary romances that love triangles are not necessary elements in order to keep up the intrigue of a relationship. Sometimes, as in this case, it merely makes some characters less appealing without making the novel as a whole more interesting.

Without giving away too many spoilers, this novel is filled with impossible amounts of divine providence. For example, we begin the novel with some looks at the heroine and her two younger sisters as they face life as orphans before we see the heroine on the run from a lascivious employer and trapped in London after being taken in by the madam of a whorehouse after a meet cute (!?) at the train station with the hero. By the time the two meet again at the Savoy Theater where Rosalyn finds a job as a dresser while Nate fills in for his injured brother, it is fairly obvious that the novel is going to play up divine providence in order to explain ridiculous coincidence. Then, after signposting the romance obviously enough for me to see it loud and clear, the author spends a great deal of time exploring the seedier side of the theater and building up Tony as a rival to Nate in fairly cliched fashion. The novel as a whole features a great deal of humor, a strong concern for justice and truth, and plenty of witty conversations.

Overall, my impression of this novel is somewhat mixed. It appears as if the author spent much of her energy building together a few of her favorite aspects of late Victorian English life, such as the orphanage the heroine grew up in as well as the world of Gilbert and Sullivan and the larger-than-life personalities that inhabited that stage. Having created that world and an appealing hero and heroine, the author made the aspects of divine providence too glaring and copied too many tropes of contemporary romance, and added too many subplots--like the heroine's younger sister Julia and her desire to be a medical missionary to Africa and a failed quest to recover a lost watch that is never resolved. Ultimately this is a novel that can certainly be enjoyed, but it is also not special enough to rise above the general body of historical romances that wrestle with the world of faith and culture. It is the sort of book I was happy enough to read for a couple of hours for free, and the sort of book I would not be upset if someone gave me as a present, but not the sort of book I would go out of my way to read at all.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017/03/16/book-review-treasured-grace/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016/04/14/audiobook-review-like-the-willow-tree/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015/08/21/book-review-anne-of-green-gables-my-daughter-me/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014/10/21/book-review-keepers-of-the-covenant/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2013/09/03/book-review-every-waking-moment/

[2] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014/08/15/the-lost-chord/

I've really been feeling a desire to read more Christian fiction lately, and I haven't been disappointed in the ones that I've chosen to read. The Captain's Daughter was no exception. This book has so many aspects that I love: Victorian England, morals and a message, plus a love story. Yet The Captain's Daughter was a good bit different than I expected it to be. Yes it takes place in Victorian England, but the majority of the plot takes place in the theater which isn't a setting that I often read about from this time period. At first I wasn't sold, but as the story went on, I became more and more interested in how the theater played into the plot. Yes this story has morals and a message, but this book shows the darker side of London's city life as well as some shady characters that aren't shy about branching out from the cultural norms to satisfy their personal desires. Yes this story has a love story, and well...I guess there's not really a but for that piece, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Rosalyn was easy to like. She grew up with her sisters in an orphanage, but again where you'd think "oh no, not an orphanage, that must have been a horrible experience." Surely the loss of her parents was the horrible experience. The orphanage, however, was a blessing. Rosalyn went into a service position at the age of seventeen unlike most novels from this time period I've read that feature ladies that come from "a good name." Her journey to London ending up as a dresser for a theater company was filled with one misfortune after another. As I mentioned earlier, The Captain's Daughter doesn't shy away from the dark places and people, and Rosalyn seems to run into just about every kind of person who would take advantage of her. And Rosalyn is quite naive, however, she manages to navigate these situations even if there were times I thought she could have opened her eyes a little more.

Nate is honorable in just about every way. He's exactly what you would hope to find in a good man. He was in the army for seven years, and due to a hand injury is now only in the reserves. Yet he intends to return to service in hopes to atone for a mistake he made. He hasn't shared the whole story with any of his family so no one really understand his desire to return. In the meantime, Nate is working two jobs. He works at the stables during the day, but then he's temporarily working his brother's job as a stagehand for the theater so that Patrick doesn't lose his position while he heals from a broken leg. And it isn't just Nate. His whole family is noble. They seek to help others as often as they can. They have a few boarders living in their home. Nate does work for the parsonage and his mother and sisters work with a ladies' home.

I appreciated that the Christian aspects felt genuine and not forced at all. The Captain's Daughter might have had some shady characters, but there were plenty of heartfelt characters just trying to do the right thing. I loved the mix. And I always appreciate a story that uses Christ as a moral compass without feeling like it is preaching to the reader.

Favorite quotes:
-"Don't be so quick to give up what God has clearly provided."

-"Grab onto the opportunities that open to you."

-How ironic that he could wish for her to be happy and yet be so pained to see it.

-"But that still doesn't absolve me for what happened." "Perhaps not. But then, absolution doesn't come through what we can do, does it? It comes from another source. One greater than ourselves."

The Captain's Daughter was a great choice for me considering I've been in a bit of a reading slump. It pulled me in quickly, but beyond that, I didn't want to put The Captain's Daughter down. I liked how this book had everything I expected but done in a way that caught me off guard. The Captain's Daughter gets 4 Stars from me. Have you read The Captain's Daughter? What did you think? Let me know!

The Captain's Daughter

by Jennifer Delamere

Bethany House

Bethany House Publishers
Christian

Pub Date 06 Jun 2017

I am reviewing a copy of The Captain's Daughter through the publisher and Netgalley:

Rosalyn had left the Orphanage to begin her new life as an adult, she had understood she would face hard times but nothing like what she faced now. In October 1879 Rosalyn decides to get on a train and head to build a new life for herself in London.

Rosalyn and her sisters grew up in an Orphanage in Bristol, an Orphanage ran by a kind, Christian man, who through prayer was able to provide for the hundreds of children in the Orphanage adequately.

A women named Jessie allows Rosalyn to stay with her when she arrives in London, having fled her previous employer after falsely being accused of theft.

Will Rosalyn be able to clear her name?

Will she be able to build a good life for herself and her sisters.

Find out in The Captains Daughter five out of five stars.

Happy Reading.

"The Captain's Daughter" is a Christian romance set in 1879 in London. The story took place at the London theater playing the Gilbert and Sullivan show, "H.M.S. Pinafore." The author worked in historical details about Gilbert and Sullivan and about what working at this theater was like. Rosalyn also grew up in the orphanage run by George Muller, so references were made to how that orphanage was run.

The main characters were likable. Nate learned to forgive and let go of the past so he could move on. Rosalyn was sweet and resourceful but came across as extremely naive and trusting. Her former employer's husband made sexual advances toward her, and subsequent events should have made it abundantly clear to her that men were sexually interested in her. Yet when she's warned away from a charming man, she thinks, "surely he doesn't think of me that way" rather than being wary or asking for more information as I would have expected. She received excellent advice about several things from people she trusted yet usually didn't follow it. This was partly so we could clearly see how God was protecting and providing for her despite her choices.

There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable novel, especially to Gilbert and Sullivan fans.

I thought this was a good book. It was a light read and an interesting look at the theater in Victorian England. I also thought that the characters were realistic and likable. I know it was one in a series, but I wish they would have had an epilogue.

My first Jennifer Delamere book is The Captain's Daughter detailing the life of Rosalyn Bernay after she left the orphanage when she reached the age of seventeen. She became a lady's companion and had to leave the post because the lady's new husband was trying to compromise her.

She ran away and through a series of misfortune ends up in London and in a brothel. She found out where she was and left in the dead of night.

Nate was a man in the "colours" or in the Army and was awaiting medical clearance to go back to his posting, but in the meantime, he took a job mucking out stalls and working in the theater where he met Rosalyn for the second time.

As I read this book, I found it a rather dark read, not quite my taste, but that doesn't mean it's not a good book. The writing is high quality and contains enough action to move the plot along nicely. It's not that my expectations were not met, but that my tastes run in another direction. Four stars.

My thanks to Bethany House for allowing me to read and review this book.

A lovely look into 1880s London and its theatre district! I love how Delamere brings this era to life and includes an early run of Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore. The focus on the backstage world of the Opera Comique and the stagehands, dressers, etc., is fascinating. Rosalyn is delightful, and Nate's urge to protect her is charming. Can't wait to read London Beginnings #2!

I absolutely loved this book! The cover was enough to intrigue me and it did not disappoint! Filled with memorable characters that couldn't help but delight this book was a true delight. I loved the research and detail that the author put into the book,you could really tell!

The Captain's Daughter by Jennifer Delamere captured my imagination with its cover design and the fact that it occurs in London. London. The city of my dreams. But unfortunately, I really didn't like this novel. The first chapter has three sisters standing on a cliff overlooking the ocean. I believe this was Delamere's way of clearing her throat and giving us backstory to the three sisters without officially telling us what we needed to know in an information dump. From there, I follow Rosalyn as she almost gets sold into prostitution before earning a job at the local theater. As a character, I found her quite shallow, and I didn't empathize with her at all. As for Nate, he had some redeeming qualities, but I still didn't find him to be the hero I wanted him to be. I wanted so much more depth to each character.

As for the pace of the novel, it moved really slow. There were moments I put the novel down and went to another book, read it completely, and came back to this one. Really didn't capture my attention. I dragged myself to finish the novel. This predictable and unoriginal story just couldn't get me excited about the plot. As a final note, The Captain's Daughter appeared to be an interesting story, but it has been written before with lackluster characters and a pace that didn't move fast enough for me. I would have a hard time recommending this story. But . . . this is my humble opinion, so others can completely disagree with mine.

I received a complimentary copy of The Captain's Daughter by Jennifer Delamere from Bethany House Publishing, and the opinions stated are all my own.